Oct. 6, 2009
Box Score
CHICAGO - Loyola struggled all night to find a rhythm and UIC took advantage in a 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-21) sweep of the Ramblers tonight inside Alumni Gym. The loss snapped Loyola's 15-match home winning streak against its crosstown rival as the Ramblers drop to 9-10 (2-4 Horizon). UIC moves to 9-10 (4-2) with the win.
"We did not play well in any phase of the game tonight," said head coach Marcie Wolbeck. "They took it to us and we were not consistent enough to string points together when we needed to."
The Ramblers got off to a good start and took an 8-5 lead in the opening set on a Dana VanDiggelen kill. UIC pulled even at 10 on a Kelsey Safranek kill and took a 13-11 lead on a Rambler error. Loyola pulled within a point on several occasions but struggled to get over the hump. A key three-point spurt later in the set gave the Flames a 21-16 lead and they would side-out to a 25-20 win.
The second set was close throughout and featured seven ties. Kills from Lauren Ditscheit and Colleen Francis helped LU turn a 14-11 deficit into a 14-14 tie and an Alyse Serritella service ace later forged the final tie at 18-all. UIC took over from there, reeling off the next three points to grab a 21-18 lead and the Ramblers would get no closer than two points the rest of the way.
Loyola fell behind early in the fourth set but kills from Francis and VanDiggelen sandwiched two UIC errors as the Ramblers snatched a 10-8 lead. A block from VanDiggelen and Pounovich stretched the lead to three (12-9) before UIC stormed back, scoring the next six points to take a 15-12 lead. A Curran kill and a UIC error pulled the Ramblers within one (18-17) and a Francis kill a couple points later drew LU even at 19. However, a blocking error gifted the Flames the next point and a Lana Lobdell kill gave the visitors some breathing room at 21-19. After a Francis kill made it 21-20, Lobdell came up big again, notching back-to-back kills to make it 23-20 and effectively close out the match.
Francis managed a team-high 10 kills and added eight digs to lead the Ramblers. VanDiggelen pitched in with eight kills and a team-high 13 digs while Pounovich finished with seven kills and three blocks. Safranek had a match-high 13 kills to lead UIC.
The Ramblers remain at home for a pair of weekend matches. Loyola takes on Valparaiso at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon before wrapping up the week with a 2 p.m. tilt against Butler on Sunday.
